Shasta's story (a Snow buddies prequel)
by XH1234
Summary: This is a prequel story that takes place a year before Snow buddies. It follows Shasta, after his parent's death and how he copes with life without any parents up until he meets the Buddies. But soon Adam gets hurt in a deadly storm, and with phantoms chasing him, Shasta must save him with his new 'friends' before the snow storm gets worse. (RE-UPLOAD I deleted this last year)
1. Shasta

**(Several years before Snow buddies)**

 **(I know for a dog a year would mean they're fully grown but in the Air buddies universe it seems like they age differently, so I'm sticking with that pattern)**

Shasta was a young Siberian husky puppy that belonged to a man called Joe, who also had several other huskies in his possession including Shasta's father, Nanook, and his mother. The man also had a young boy, Adam, who Shasta would play for most of the time, since he was a very energetic puppy and needed someone equally as free-spirited as him to keep up. Shasta was only six weeks old at this point.

One day, he was running around the shed playing with the other members of Joe's sled team: Growl, Snow and Hunter, while his parents watched over him.

"Dad, can I go with you guys this afternoon?" the puppy asked.

"I'm sorry, Shasta, you're too young to go outside, you haven't been vaccinated yet" refused his father. Joe was going to take his team to an area where most sled owners go to practise to race. Shasta loved sled racing, it was his favourite sport, and his father was well known as perhaps one of the best lead dogs in town.

"Whoa he sure is excited today. The little guys been running around driving us crazy" said Hunter.

"Yeah, it's Adam's birthday, I gotta be prepared in case he wants to play or something!" cried Shasta.

"Does he know?" Hunter whispered to Nanook.

"Not yet" he chortled.

After Adam came in, and the husky's all decided to wish him a happy birthday by licking him, he poured them some food in their separate bowls. Joe came in a few minutes later.

"Ah, feeding the team, eh?" he smiled. "Well...er as a little birthday present, I've decided that, instead of giving Shasta to a different family, I would let you keep him, since you've already bonded so well with the little guy".

"What seriously?!" cried Adam. "Thanks, dad!"

"Your welcome, now get your bag while I start up the car, you don't want to be late for school" his dad replied, leaving.

Shasta stopped eating and widened his eyes, just as his ears perked when he heard what Joe said. He excitedly turned to his parents.

"Wait, I get to stay with Adam?!" he exclaimed.

His mother smiled and nodded. "Yes, dear you can".

When Joe's car drove off, with Adam in it, three other husky's stood atop a snowy hill, watching the small house down below.

"Seriously?!" exclaimed a large brownish husky, Baron. "I-I thought they were gonna give the pup to us!"

"Yes, well it seems his owner has changed his mind and given it to his kid instead" hissed a slender husky, Echo, who was also a lead dog but of a different, incomplete team. But he was possibly the only other lead dog in town who's skills rivalled Nanook's.

"So, what you're just gonna steal him?" questioned Baron.

"Why steal, when you can negotiate?" said Echo. "I have very keen persuasive skills".

"Um..." began the white female husky, Alpine.

"Alright let's go" ordered Echo, as they headed down towards the shed.

Hound, the strongest husky on Joe's team entered the shed, while Shasta was playing with his mother.

"Um, Nanook, you two have some visitors, they say they want to talk to you" he told them.

"Ok, can you guys look after Shasta while we're gone?" Nanook said to the others. The two left the four other husky's to 'look after' Shasta.

"Should be easy taking care of a puppy" gestured Growl.

"Ha, for you, remember the last time you watched over him?" laughed Snow.

"Ok then why don't you play with him first?" challenged Growl.

"You're on" accepted the female husky. "How hard can taking care of a pup be?"

* * *

Nanook and his mate went outside to see the three husky's standing before them. Echo walked forward, while the other two remained behind.

"You're a difficult dog to get a hold of, Nanook" began Echo. "Congratulations to you both, I know it's a little late but what with your tough schedule and all..."

"Thank you, Echo, but I'm sure that's not all you came for" guessed Nanook, who had known Echo since he first moved into town with his Russian owner.

"Oh I should have known you would guess that" sighed Echo. "Even thought I am incredibly sad upon hearing the news that my team would not be receiving a new member, I have come to offer an alternative."

"We're all part of Joe's team, we're not gonna leave him" said Shasta's mother.

"No, no of course not!" Echo strongly rejected that thought. "I was hoping Shasta would still be part of our team. Our owner used to live in Siberia, he's an expert in dog sled racing, knows all the techniques and I'm sure in a year or two, he can make your pup an official member of our team".

"Yeah, rules don't say nothing about the age of the dog" added Baron.

"Your asking us to give you our pup?" gasped Shasta's mother.

"No, you can still see him all the time, this is just like...a school" Alpine chimed in.

"We're on the verge of greatness, we are this close to finally becoming forming a full team" urged Echo.

"Humans aren't even allowed to take puppies until there eight weeks old and you want him at six!" cried Nanook.

"So you're saying we can take him at 8 weeks then?" asked Baron.

"No!"

"Nine weeks?"

"No, no!"

"Ten weeks, that's my final offer!"

"NO!"

* * *

Back inside the shed, Shasta was tiring out Snow and the others.

"See...not so easy is it?" panted Growl.

"Should've listened to you" regretted Snow.

"Hey, Shasta, we're all tired how about you take a little nap and Snow will watch over you?" wheezed Hound.

"...Ok" Shasta reluctantly agreed.

However, it was Snow herself who fell asleep, while Shasta just sat by her, still fully awake. The others had also fallen asleep, thinking they would finally have a moments peace and Snow would be watching him anyway.

Shasta spied something interesting on top of the large, old wardrobe that was stationed in the corner of the shed directly next to a desk that was loaded with papers and small boxes. The item in question was a small brown book at the top. He looked around at the sleepy elders and decided to go check it out. Carefully, he climbed on the chair beside the desk and then on top of the desk, before climbing up the boxes that were piled up and leapt onto the top of the wardrobe. He examined the dusty journal and saw words written on it "SLEDGING GUIDE".

A few of the boxes then tumbled over, destroying Shasta's only way of getting down, and waking Growl.

"But it's Saturday" he lazily said, before noticing Shasta stuck on top of the wardrobe with no way down. He let out a cry, waking the others, and then ran over to Snow. "You idiot!"

"Nice babysitter" snickered Hunter, sarcastically.

"Shh you're gonna wake up the pup" hissed Snow.

"The pup's up there!" yelled Growl, pointing up.

They sprinted over to the desk and thought of what to do.

"Quickly! Go, go!" urged an impatient Snow.

Hound climbed up the chair before slipping on the papers on the desk and falling right on top of Hunter, squashing him.

"Snow, I can't get down" whimpered Shasta.

"He asked for you, Snow" Growl nervously grinned.

"He's not thinking straight, get back up there!" she ordered.

Hound helped Hunter up and he got to the edge of the desk, where the knocked over boxes were.

"Now what" he muttered to himself. "Shasta how'd you get there?"

Shasta pointed to the pile of scattered boxes and Hunter looked at them, dismayed.

"I take it you won't be joining us?" questioned Growl, as he followed Hunter.

"No, I'll be ready to catch him if he falls" Snow ran over to the front of the wardrobe.

"I'm a bit scared of heights" confessed Hunter.

"Oh never mind, you stay were you are I'll get him" snapped Growl, pushing Hunter out the way. "Oh boy..."

Stretching out his legs, Growl leapt as far as he could and grabbed the edge of the wardrobe, making it wobble.

"Uh-oh this was a bad idea..." he immediately regretted.

"Shasta, crawl down Growl and let go I'll catch you!" instructed Snow.

"Ok" he nervously agreed.

He crawled down Growl's back, accidentally hitting his head with his small legs and then let go, being caught by Snow.

"Mission accomplished!" praised Hound.

"WHAT ABOUT ME!?" screamed Growl. "Oh boy, think positive. I'm gonna be fine." The wardrobe began wobbling and leaning forward slightly. "I'm dead".

* * *

"You two have a lot of hard work to do can you really be a professional race dog and a parent?" asked Alpine. "We can do both for you".

"We'll always have time for Shasta" disagreed Nanook.

"Come on think about it, we could make him something great, like you" continued Echo.

"He already is" replied his mother, sharply.

"Typical mum-like thing to say, you don't actually mean it" snorted Baron.

"Enough, look we've told you the answer is no, now please go!" declared Nanook.

A loud crash was heard coming from the shed.

"Fine, it sounds like your parenting has already worked" decided Echo, sarcastically.

Nanook and his mate rushed back into the shed to see it messed up, with the wardrobe and desk on the floor and papers and boxes scattered everywhere.

"We watched him, for you" groaned Growl, before falling back onto the floor.

Shasta grinned nervously, moving his paw up and down, realising he was in trouble.

* * *

Later, at night, Shasta's parents had told him off for the incident and Joe and Adam's mum weren't to happy cleaning up the mess.

"If you keep making mess Shasta, Joe might give you to another family anyway!" shouted Nanook, not wanting him to go with Echo.

"But humans' jobs are to clean" argued the puppy.

"It's good enough that they feed us and take care of us" said his mum.

"But I don't want to clean, I want to race like you" said Shasta, rather arrogantly.

"I know but right now your just a pup, you don't magically become good at sport like that".

"But Air bud just had five pup's who can all play sport".

"Try to get some sleep, Shasta, we'll continue this in the morning" his mother said softly, kissing him on the head.

"...Yes mum" Shasta tiredly agreed.


	2. Feel better

The annual Ferntiuktuk dog sled race had just finished with catastrophic results. Two grown huskies, while racing past the home stretch of the race, smashed the ice beneath them (although it seemed as though a contestant that had already passed through had purposely put pressure on the ice), sending the innocent dogs to their doom. Although Jean George was declared as the champion, rumours began circulating of sabotage during the race by the victor. Their devastated owner, Joe Bilson, sadly walked towards his truck when sheriff Ryan came over to him.

"I'm sorry about what happened, Joe" said the sheriff, gravelly. "It's hard to predict which areas of the ice is fragile so we can't really prepare. Better luck next year".

"There is no next year" refused Joe. "I'm giving up dog sled racing, it's not my thing anymore".

He got into his truck and drove back to his house, where his family tried comforting him over the death of his two loyal huskies.

The rest of Joe's team were incredibly dismayed when they returned to the shed, wondering how they would tell Shasta the grim fate of his parents. When they did return, he ran up to them excitedly, expecting them to have won.

"You're back!" he cried. "Did you win?! Where's the trophy? Where's mum and dad?"

Hound looked to Hunter, who in turn nudged Snow, thinking perhaps she could break it down easily. At first, Shasta didn't believe it, thinking it was some kind of joke or something.

"You're lying right?" he shouted, refusing to listen.

"Shasta we- began Growl.

But before he could finish, Shasta ran out through the hole in the shed and into town.

"Go get him!" ordered Snow, as Hunter ran after him.

The small husky looked around the busy town, where many people were talking. Crowds of townsfolk were reading newspaper's, with headlines such as **Tragedy occurs in annual race.** Dogs were also talking about the news, with profound pain and grief, very few laughed at the news, while others remained optimistic.

"Did you hear what happened?" asked one dog.

"Must've been terribly excited, police say the ice cracked" said another.

"Ol' Joe must be upset, I told him to be careful" one man said to another.

"Two dogs dead after ice cracks during race" another read aloud from the papers.

"Mum! Dad!" Shasta yelled, beginning to get scared that these rumours were actually true and the dogs that everyone was speaking of was indeed his parents.

He spotted one dog that looked similar to his dad, and smiled, thinking it was him. He ran up to the older dog, who in turn spun around when Shasta bumped into him.

"Dad!" he shouted, before realising that this husky's face did not resemble his fathers'. Now that he had turned, his markings were properly revealed.

"What are you on about?!" growled the dog, as Hunter quickly found Shasta.

"Sorry about that, kid's a little confused" apologised Hunter.

"Oh Hunter, I heard about Nanook, my condolences" condoled the husky.

Upon hearing those crushing words, Shasta ran off again, back to the shed.

"Wait!" demanded Hunter, running after him.

"Was it something I said!?" the other dog called after him.

* * *

Later in Joe's shed, Shasta miserably turned his attention to the other's, who were grabbing their things, as if they were leaving.

"Well, it's moving day for us, gonna miss this old shed" sighed Hound.

"Yes I sure will miss that wardrobe" snickered Growl, before brushing off his snicker, realising there was nothing to be happy about.

"You guys too?" sniffled Shasta, feeling completely alone now.

"Afraid so, in two days to be exact" said Hunter.

"You can keep my teddy" Hound looked to his old stuffed teddy bear toy.

"I'm sorry Shasta, but at least you still have Adam" said Alpine.

"On second thought, I'm keeping the toy" Hound hugged it while the others looked at him like he was baby. "What, it's cuddly?"

Echo's owner (the Russian man) tried to buy some of the dogs for his team but with no luck.

"I'm sorry, people have already purchased them" Joe told him.

"Oh...can I at least give you my number in case they change their minds?" he asked.

"Sure, if they do, you'll be the first one I call" agreed Joe, taking out a pen and paper.

* * *

Perhaps the one who had felt the most pain was Shasta. The death of his parent's had a huge impact on him and although he remained happy whenever Adam was around, he couldn't shake off the sadness and pain he felt.

"It's ok, boy, you still have me" Adam soothed him, guessing why he was not in usual playful mood.

A few days had gone by and Joe had sold the rest of his team to different racers across Alaska. Shasta decided to finally go into town, which he hadn't since the incident. He went over to Deputy Bernie, who was laying outside the sheriff's office talking to Francois and Philippe.

"Did I already mention the shiny trophy?" goaded Philippe. "Oh look here is their little pupsqueak, I can't imagine the pain".

Shasta ignored them and talked to Bernie instead.

"Hey there Shasta, I haven't seen you in a few days now" greeted Bernie. "Are you still feeling blue?"

"Yeah, I'm still a bit down" admitted Shasta, quietly.

"Why is he feeling down?" snorted Francois. "He wasn't the one who raced and died, he just stayed at home with that miserable boy who dreams of being a musher".

"Remember when his dad claimed to be taught by Talon the Great, an old myth?" laughed Philippe. "Or when he said he saw a raptor? What an idiot".

"Don't talk about my dad, he was a much better lead dog than you ever will be!" growled the puppy.

"Is that why we won and he sunk?" snickered Francois. "Did I mention our big, shiny trophy?"

Bernie glared at them, making them stop laughing.

"I would think you two champ's would be an inspiration to the youngsters but here you are bullying them" he scolded.

"We were just remembering our dearly departed friend" Francois put on a fake sad voice, hiding a laugh. "By the way have I told you about out trophy?"

"Maybe I should talk to you later sir" decided Shasta, walking off sadly.

"Now wait a minute- but it was too late, Shasta was gone. Bernie glared at the two laughing dog's who tried their best to hide their laughs upon noticing his glare.

As the husky puppy walked down the road, five adults watched him from atop a snowy hill. One was a lead dog, one considered to be the best around, Echo. They belonged to the Russian man who had just moved in and was eager to start a dog sled team (the same man in Snow buddies). They had previously tried to convince Nanook to give Shasta to them, with no success.

Shasta walked on followed by the two annoying bullies, when Echo and his group appeared in front of him.

"You're father was a difficult dog to beat" he cleared his throat.

"Yes we are deeply saddened to hear of his death" added the white female husky, Alpine. "We all are sad, right Akira?"

"Huh?" Akira asked, not really paying attention. "Oh right, I totally agree.. with whatever you just said".

"I still don't believe it" rejected the large brown husky, Baron.

"Were you there? No; we were, we saw, he died" listed Francois.

"Are you a lead dog?" Shasta asked, noticing the same level of allegiance his father once possessed.

"No he's just a fool who thinks he is" insulted Francois.

"Don't you two clowns have a trophy to rub into every dog in Italy's face?" asked Baron.

"No, we're from Franc-

"Europe?"

"What, no".

"Asia?"

"No, no!"

"Well you should do something with the trophy; you just gonna lick it?" joked Baron.

"Come on Francois lets go, I think our master has finished his trim now" urged Philippe, noticing Jean George exit the barber shop.

"I am glad them two have withdrawn" said the wise, Japanese husky, Anouk. He had been bought by the Russian man from a illegal seller in Fernfield called Selkirk Tanders.

"Now that the clowns are gone I can continue" added Echo. "Greetings, Shasta, I am Echo- a lead dog as you already know- and as you can see we are a five-dog crew. A true sled team requires six dogs in total and our owner used to live in Siberia and is an expert on training dogs to race. I'm sure he could easily make you the excellent race dog your father was, you have the potential to become one of us...maybe better".

"That's doubtful" whispered Akira.

"By the time of next years race, you could be with us racing towards that finish line" added Alpine, softly.

"It will only take about...what five, ten months, I mean can expect no miracles-

"Forget it, I'm not interested!" interrupted Shasta. "First of, I'm not abandoning Adam to join you and second I don't even want to race anymore. I hate that stupid sport!"

"Excuse me?" asked Echo, bluntly.

"I don't believe what I'm hearing" said Alpine. "Every husky in town wants to race, even puppies. I get that your parents died in a race, but that doesn't mean you should give up on it".

"Yeah you should" whispered Akira. "Oh come on, Echo, this is a waste of time! He's just a puppy, what's him or his parents ever done for us anyway? I know, beat my team in a race, forcing my owner to abandon me onto the cold streets?"

"The rules don't specify what age the dogs have to be to enter" hissed Echo. "Besides he's the only dog left in town who doesn't race or have plans to, we can easily persuade him".

"There's a lot of things the rules don't 'specifically' say, they don't say a kid can't enter that doesn't mean they can" argued Akira.

"Shasta, we could make you something great, just like your dad, besides Adam's never gonna race, those are just empty dreams" continued Echo.

"You do not think his dad is going to allow him to after what happened?" contributed Anouk.

But Shasta wouldn't hear it and just ran off, away from them.

"Amazing speech, Churchill, you really reeled him in with that one" taunted Akira. "Anyway, our owner is supposed to be practising with us soon, so...

"You guys go on ahead, I'm gonna have a little one-to-one talk with Shasta, maybe I caught him on a wrong time" decided Echo.

When Baron and Anouk departed, Alpine remained behind and stopped Akira.

"I think we should follow Echo, his persuasive skills aren't always as good as he thinks" she suggested.

"Might as well, plus I don't want to have to listen to Baron's 'jokes' the whole way back" agreed Akira.


	3. Legend of Balto

**(if you don't know who the two OC characters at the end are, read my other fanfics Back to Fernfield and Dino buddies to find out)**

Echo followed Shasta to an open area of Alaska, beyond the forests and positioned right next to the ocean that stretched far beyond the horizon. He found him behind a mountain, sulking next to two, stone objects buried in the snow. They were gravestones- a pair of them. Joe had decided to build two graves for his loyal sled dogs and placed them in a far place where no one else could see them, except for him of course.

"I don't get it" whimpered the pup. "If it was so dangerous, why'd you do it?"

"This is quite an unusual place to be" announced Echo, surprising him. Shasta didn't turn, however. Echo glanced over to the names on the gravestones. "Oh, he buried them here. So who are we talking about, eh?"

"My parents" Shasta quietly admitted. "I kept telling them that it could be dangerous but they never listened!"

"Funny, your father told me that your loved the sport" recalled Echo.

"I did, but whenever my parent's would race I always felt a bit nervous and scared that they might not come back" admitted the pup. "I loved the idea of racing myself, but with that Jean George guy showing up, I just kept getting scared for them each year. Why did they have to race? It was just one year, they could've missed!"

"It's sport, of course there is risks involved" lectured the slender husky. "They were being loyal to their owner, repaying him for years of dedication to them. So what if the ice hadn't broke? If they hadn't raced this year, they would've raced next year and the next, and maybe it would've cracked eventually but there's nothing you can do about it. They served their human to the end, to win that trophy and in that way, they all would've benefited from it. Now you hadn't thought of it like that had you?"

"You know what, I never thought of it like that either" Akira whispered to Alpine.

"Why are you two here?" realised Echo.

"Still, what's the point in racing when there's murderers involved, I don't want to see Adam getting hurt or worse?" questioned Shasta.

"Let me tell you a different story" began Echo. "Ever heard of the legend of Balto and Togo, a tale spoken throughout every corner of Alaska?"

"My dad started telling me that one, but he never finished it" Shasta shook his small head.

"Then allow me to finish it" Echo cleared his throat. "It was 1925, and a deadly virus took hold of Nome and an epidemic was almost inevitable so what happened was, serum was shipped to the Alaskan town of Nenana-

"Really you could just die from this aggravation" Akira cringed at the way his leader pronounced the name of the Alaskan town.

"As I was saying!" Echo glared at him. "It was a risky trek, both for the dogs and the mushers but let me tell you something, they never surrendered to the dangers like you are now, they went on and on for about...what three days maybe six or something like that".

"Oh boo hoo I'm in tears" joked Akira. Alpine just let out an annoyed sigh. "What, it's a joke, what I can't joke in my spare time?"

"You don't get spare time...why are you still here?!" growled Echo. "So what do you say, Shasta, did my inspirational yet possibly historically inaccurate story influence you to change your mind and accept my offer?"

"Or did we really just come here for no reason?" muttered Akira.

"...That story was incredible, sir, but like I said I'm Adam's pup and I'm not gonna abandon him" declared Shasta.

"Really, because I think the boy's holding you back? Last chance, yes or no, are you gonna turn me down?" repeated Echo.

"...No" Shasta spluttered out, despite deep down wanting to live up to the legacy of his parent's.

"Ok see ya, I'll let you continue with whatever it is you were doing" declared Echo, as he turned around and walked on, followed by Akira and Alpine.

"You just allowed him to say no...without any extra convincing?" questioned Alpine.

"Oh he'll come crawling back" promised Echo, deeply. "Once he realises that we can offer him what that boy cannot- glory".

* * *

Shasta returned home at around four and remained with Adam until his father came back from he his job as a shop owner, which was now his full time job. Joe had bought a box of spare shop supplies that he didn't have any use for with him, thinking Adam might find something interesting in the collection. Adam took it to the shed after, where Shasta jumped on the desk and examined the context of the box. There was an old pair of trainers, a blue dog collar, a hockey puck and several DVD's. One in particular, seemed somewhat interesting. It was titled 'Welcome to my life', a rock'n'roll song by a band known as Simple Plan. He used his muzzle to place the tape into the player and pressed play with is nose.

Huge mistake. This song was very depressing for him. Each lyric repeated itself in his head, as each one related to him in some way. If his day wasn't already bad enough.

Then something happened at night, which made him change his outlook on his situation. He was laying on top of Adam's bed, slowly trying to get some sleep, when he saw Adam awake. He was praying. Praying for his own dog sled team, so that he could make up for what happened to his father. Perhaps, end his embarrassment and end any torment that he had received. Adam as well had received some form of bullying in his class by people who had heard the news, and it made him angry and upset since he knew how close his dad was to his husky's. Seeing this, Shasta decided that perhaps he would take up Echo's offer, sought off. He could ask him to train him to be a lead dog, so he could become like his dad and so he could race with Adam.

* * *

On a huge mountain, beyond the beautiful town; isolated and shielded from civilisations by the huge mountains and open oceans, two dark figures walked along the icy sloped, observing the atmosphere.

"So you dragged me all the way here for this?" asked a deep, scary voice.

"Not this, there is something here which interests me" replied an equally as dark voice.

One was a skeleton like figure, covered with a cloak and a hood above his skeleton head and his glowing red eyes. Two blasters lay tucked inside his belt while a scythe was attached to his cloak. The other was a dark samurai-like creature, with metal folds surrounding his head, revealing nothing but his glowing red right eye. On his wrists, two gauntlets were attached, each having the ability to summon a fearsome blade each.

"Look Blade it feels like your wasting my time, you don't even know where your going" moaned the skeleton figure.

"Patience, now is not the time to search but to watch" Dark Blade calmly replied, taking out a spy bug and placing it on the cold surface below. The small robot's eyes turned green. "To avoid discovery, we should wait until a storm hits this area- no one would be out in that weather- and then we can search uninterrupted".

"How do you know there is going to be a storm?" questioned Death. "I wonder how you survived in this death trap. If it's not the boiling heat it's the cold snow, what's wrong with this planet?!"

"I told you a wise, old dog assisted me until Anthem eventually rescued me" replied Dark Blade. "And during my visit, I learnt that snow storms are all to common in this place, one will likely hit again and when it does, we will return and find our new prize. Only a fool would be out in these storms".


	4. Broken soul

The next day, Adam was heading to school and had taken Shasta along with him for a walk, but before they did they had to go to the sheriff's office. Adam's school was taking them for a field trip in a few weeks to see the mountains on the outskirts of town (the supposed home of the Alaskan myth known as Talon) and the permission slips had to be handed in to the sheriff's office as he would be managing this trip to ensure safety.

When Adam went in the office, Shasta ran off the find where Echo could possibly be. He went out to the edges of town, beyond the welcome sign, as most people usually practise racing there with their dog's. He quickly hid behind a tree when Jean George raced past with his ferocious team.

"Come on you lazy felines, hike!" he called out to them, using his whip to encourage them to run faster.

He then noticed Echo racing with his dog's and owner over by the other side of the trees. They weren't as fast as Jean George because their team only had five members and Echo himself was doing two jobs at once at the front.

Once they stopped outside their house and the Russian man went inside, leaving his dogs outside, Shasta approached them.

"Small husky puppy approaching us" Anouk alerted the others.

"Oh it's that loser" insulted Akira.

"Shh, he might hear you!" hissed Alpine.

"Greetings, Shasta how are you on this not-so-fine, snowy day?" greeted Echo.

"I'm fine, sir, I was actually...wandering if you could teach me to be a lead dog, like you" he explained.

The others put on surprised faces and Baron was trying his best to hide a snicker.

"So you decline my offer to start out from the beginning and now you want to be a lead dog?" puzzled Echo.

"He's mad!" whispered Akira.

"That's quite impossible, I mean I know your father was a great lead dog but...training a puppy to be one?"

"But you said your owner was an expert" recalled Shasta.

"Yes but why would he train you if your not on our team, what's in it for him?" said Echo. "Unless you want to rethink my initial proposal?"

"...No thanks, sir, sorry to waste your time" apologised Shasta quietly, walking away sadly, with his head down.

"Well that was a big waste of time" exclaimed Baron, a bit too loudly.

He walked past Francois, who muttered "loser".

* * *

Adam went up to Sheriff Ryan and his dog, Bernie, who was sitting on the chair beside him.

"What can I do for you, Adam?" he asked.

"I have the permission slip for the trip to the mountains" Adam handed the letter over to him.

"Oh that's perfect, now we have everyone!" cheered sheriff Ryan, adding it to the pile of letters.

"...Um Sheriff?" began Adam, wanting to know something about the trip. More specifically who else was gonna be there. "Um, you don't happen to know the groups for when we go, do you? I don't want to be in a group with people I don't like".

"Bullies, can't stand the sight of them" called Lieutenant Toff's, the sheriff's temporally assistance for a few months, until he would be transferred back to his original post in another town. "There like a disease, an incurable, weird, irritating disease". A loud crash was then heard, as he slipped and crashed into a bunch of supplies. "Ow".

"You ok?" called Sheriff Ryan.

"Yeah, I'm peachy" lied Toff's, exiting from the other room. He was wearing a heavy Star Wars Shadow stormtrooper suit, which was the source of all this commotion.

"What are you wearing?!" cried Ryan.

"A Shadow trooper suit, it's awesome; keeps me warm in this bleak town".

"Don't you find it hard to walk in that?"

"I guess, it's nothing really" denied Toff's, before slipping again.

"Fine whatever, go check that pile of papers will you?" the sheriff rolled his eyes.

Toff's searched through the paperwork.

"Lets see: date, number of coaches...nothing on groups, I assume that will be told to you on the day" said the lieutenant.

"Oh ok, thanks anyway sheriff" thanked Adam, before heading off to school.

* * *

Walking around a large empty area full of snowy hills, Shasta kicked some snow around before deciding that if Echo wouldn't train him he would just learn himself. After all, his father never mentioned that he received training from anyone other than Joe, so why would he need it when he was just a puppy. Seeking the largest hill possible, Shasta practises running up and down it, although because of his much smaller legs he would just repeatedly fall down and his running wasn't that good either. But the worst part of it all was when he tried running across a frozen lake. He himself froze, shuddering at the painful reminder of his parent's horrific demise when they were standing above ice. He panicked, quickly trying to get of it as soon as possible. However, this just made him slip and slide across the ice until he hit his head against a tree, making all the snow on the branches fall on him. Another horrible day. The depressed puppy just kept on relaying the song he heard yesterday feeling even more miserable then before.

All the while, Echo and his team was watching this montage unfold.

"Yikes, I feel sorry for him" cringed Akira.

"Can't you do anything, Echo?" Alpine beckoned to her leader.

"I guess...I mean that is to say, no one ever said it was impossible...ok fine I'll try my best" decided the lead dog.

"Aw what why?!" complained Akira.

"Just for a bit until he himself realises that he's just a pup and puppies can't race, or kids for that matter".

"Sometimes an icicle through the heart is better than one in the back" advised Anouk.

"What does that even mean?!" demanded Echo.

"It will all end in tears, mark my words" promised Akira.

Echo found Shasta, staring at his reflection in the ice that he slipped on, keeping his paws in the snow, sulking.

"Shasta, I've changed my mind perhaps I can train you to be a lead dog exactly like me" he said.

"Seriously?!" cried Shasta, his tears vanishing.

"I'm a lead dog, how hard can training a pup be?" Echo stated. Of course he didn't know how wrong he was.


	5. Impossible task

In Adam's school, the students all took out their homework as soon as the teacher entered the classroom. Adam had forgotten his (hadn't done it).

"Adam where's your work?" demanded the teacher.

"I um...forgot it at home, Mrs" he slowly admitted.

"In that case, I'm afraid you have a detention" said the teacher, returning to the front.

The students around Adam began laughing. One boy in particular, Fred, laughed louder than the others.

"What an idiot" he taunted, turning to his friend. "Did you know his dad was so stupid he got to of his dog's killed?"

"Well I can believe it since he's related to him" laughed his friend.

"Shut up!" Adam angrily snapped at them.

"Didn't you dad also lose to Jean George a couple years ago?" recalled one girl.

"Um...yeah, well, I guess something like that...the sun was in his eyes" stammered Fred.

* * *

Meanwhile, on the outskirts of town (the same area where the Buddies first landed in Snow buddies) Echo and his team decided to see what they would be dealing with exactly. Echo ordered him to run as fast as he could so that he could see how best to train him.

"Hm looks like we've got some work to do, he can't be a lead dog running at that speed" noted Echo.

"Obviously not, he's a puppy!" Akira chimed in.

"He seems ok running up hills, it's the big ones that are the problem" added Alpine.

"I'm gonna go get some berries from the bushes, they say you shouldn't stress a puppy" decided Echo. "Watch him while I'm gone.

Shasta continued running, despite the fact that Echo was gone, over a frozen lake, however he soon realised what he was standing on and stopped. He shivered just looking at it, remembering what happened to his parents.

"What's happening, why'd he stop?" wondered Akira.

"Did his parents not perish running across a frozen lake, the pup has that fear in him" realised Anouk.

"Go get him" Alpine gestured to Baron and Akira, who miserably went over.

"Here, Shasta come to us" instructed Baron, as he walked further. However, his big paws soon became to much for the ice to handle, and when Akira slipped and buried his claws into the ice to prevent himself from collapsing, the ice began cracking. "Uh-oh".

Baron quickly grabbed Shasta and he immediately sprinted as fast as he could over the lake and towards Echo.

"Run you idiot!" shouted Akira, as the two ran, while the ice cracked beneath them. Akira slipped on Baron's paw and the two skidded along the ice and crashed straight into a bush.

"Looks like we have a problem" muttered Alpine, as Shasta shivered behind her.

"S-sir, can we have a little break?" pleaded Shasta, still shivering.

"I think we all can do with a little break" agreed Baron. "Hey look there's a cave over there, why don't you go take a little nap in there while we...talk?"

When Shasta went inside the cave, the others began discussing what to do. They were unaware that this cave belonged to a bear that had followed Shasta in, sat at the front and went to sleep, beginning it's long hibernation.

"'Watch him for me'? Mind if I fluff your tail, sir" Akira mocked his leader's bad decisions (in his eyes anyway). "What are we gonna do? Obviously Echo can't teach him, and he's gonna figure that out soon".

"Relax, I'm sure we can teach him something at least" assured Alpine.

"Why does that little thing even want to race, he's a puppy for heaven's sake?" questioned Akira.

"His boy shares the same compassion for the husky tradition of racing as he does" stated the wise Anouk. "Now where is our leader gone?"

"Here!" Echo called from the bushes. "Just eating..I mean getting some berries. Where's Shasta?"

"Oh I told him to go take a nap in that cave over there, so we could rant about him" Baron proudly stated, pointing to the cave.

Echo narrowed his eyes at it and noticed something big and brown. "You idiots that's a bears cave!"

They all frantically ran over to it and peered inside, to see the huge bear blocking the path further in the cave. He was laying there, sleeping.

"Well, he's dead" declared Akira, graphically. He turned to leave but Baron stopped him.

"I think he's hibernating" he realised. They all then grinned at the brown husky. "What?"

"This is your fault, so you go in and get him" ordered Echo, pushing him forward into the cave.

"Why don't you go?"

"As leader of this team, I cannot afford to get injured or die, therefore the minor, expendable figures should".

Baron gulped and began walking past the bear, avoiding it's wriggling paws. He looked to the others who were urging him to go on. Once he got to the other side, Baron let out a sigh of relief, however, he soon stepped on the bear's tail, making it angrily wake up.

"Uh-oh" gulped Baron. The bear stamped on his tail as hard as he could and then went back to sleep.

Baron held in a scream and once he exited he unleashed it right into Echo's face.

Now, it was Anouk's turn.

"Silent but fast is the way of the ninja" he announced, swiftly entering the cave. He silently walked towards the awake bear, who growled.

"Over here, look I'm Mowgli" Echo tried distracting him. "How's the wife and the kids if anyone even married a thing like you".

The ninja dog nervously laughed, while the bear stood up. He grabbed him and flung him out the cave, landing right onto Akira.

Finally, Echo decided to go in. Glancing at his injured comrades, he sighed and decided to stand up and walk along the gap between the bear and the cave wall. He turned to the others.

"Keep going!" urged Baron.

"Shut up!" hissed Echo. It wasn't long, before he stepped on the bear's tail like Baron did. Now the bear had had enough of these disturbances and fiercely got up, fixing his red eyes on Echo.

As he tried walking back the way he came (still on two's), the bear lunged his leg forward and kicked him hardly right in the "batteries". Echo held in his scream, not wanting to anger him any more and then exited.

"Are you ok sir?" asked Baron.

Echo led out a loud scream, that caused all the bird to scatter from their trees.

* * *

Jean George raced in to town and stopped his team right outside a house in the centre of town. He got off the sled and banged on the door. An equally as mean looking, sly, trickster opened the door, Paul, Jean George's only friend, commonly refereed to in the town as their own "Jacob Marley".

"Ah, Jean George, the man who made me win a fortune!" cried Paul. "I made a bet that you would win and so you did, therefore so did I. $400, I got!"

"Hello, hello Paul, I was wondering if Doctor. Mitchel has returned yet" he cut right to the point, not really wanting to talk to Paul for long.

"He should be back tomorrow" answered Paul. "To be fair, you wouldn't have won if it weren't for the other guy's dog's dying".

"A good racer is prepared for all the dangers, that was his own fault" argued Jean. "It was a fair game".

"I thought you said you put on one of the sleds" recalled Paul.

"...No I didn't" he denied. "Anyway, when I do go for a checkup with Mitchel, I want you to take care of my dogs".

"I guess, since these mutts won me a fortune" grumbled Paul.

"What?!" cried Philippe. "I hate that guy, I don't wanna stay with him!"

"Relax, were'll sneak out" said Francois.

* * *

Back at the cave, Echo hatched up another plan.

"I have an amazing plan" he said. "Alpine distracts the bear while we get Shasta".

"Me?! Distract him, how?" stammered the white husky.

"Um...sing him a song" suggested Echo.

Baron and Anouk chortled.

"Me, sing?!" exclaimed the female husky. "Sing what, exactly?!"

"I dunno, we're still in the holiday season, sing a Christmas song".

"This I got to see" laughed Baron, entering the cave. "Hey, hairy, before you attack us, we've got a 'wonderful' present for you, sung by a 'magnificent' singer, get your hopes way high". Alpine shot him an angry glare.

"Um...we wish you a merry Christmas" she began singing softly. Baron snickered. "We...wish you a merry Christmas and a happy new year...

As she continued distracting him, Echo, Akira and Anouk sneaked further on in the cave.

"You know it ain't wise to lose a puppy, and it's worse when you send the thing into a bears' cave" complained Echo.

"Don't blame me, if you had never offered to train him we wouldn't be in this mess" Akira shot back.

"You were the one who said you'd keep your eye on him" Echo started on Anouk.

"And where did you go?" he shot back.

"I just want you to know you idiots are the reason I'm gonna get eaten".

They found Shasta sleeping on a rock by the side of the cave.

"Don't startle him, you should never startle a sleeping puppy" warned Echo.

"WAKE UP, CAN'T YOU SEE WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE!" screamed Akira, making Shasta immediately wake up.

"Oh is the break over...sorry" he wearily apologised.

"Save it till we get out of here".

They returned to the entrance, where Alpine had finished her song and the bear was sitting at the front.

"Great now what?" said Akira.

"Distract him. Maybe Baron can give him so food" suggested Anouk.

"He don't need food, look at him, I think that thing should stop eating" insulted Akira.

"That's my whole point...

Unknowingly to them, the bear was listening.

"Ok on the count of three, Shasta, we're gonna run past" instructed Echo. "One, two, thre-

The bear suddenly turned around and attacked all three of them. He went for Akira first, while kicking Anouk around. Alpine quickly darted in and grabbed Shasta, while the bear turned it's attention to Echo and then Baron.

Eventually, they escaped and the bear let out a hideous roar.

"Sorry, if I caused any trouble" apologised Shasta, nervously turning his head away from them.

"How could you possible think that you- began Akira

"No, we should've paid more attention to you" wheezed Echo.

"Anyway, I should probably go home now" he decided.

"Yes, good idea" the others quickly agreed.

"See you tomorrow" the pup.

"TOMORROW!" the others yelled.

"Right, tomorrow" Echo nervously nodded.

When he ran off, Akira declared "I am not doing that again".


	6. Sonya

Echo and Alpine paced around the cold arctic, thinking about what to do about Shasta, The others had already expressed their dissatisfaction with what he was doing.

"What are we gonna do?" wondered Echo. "I can't teach him to be a lead dog, he's a pup. I'm not Talon the Great that I can do miracles like that".

"Mainly because you exist" said Alpine. "Well the poor pup needs some guidance".

"Wait a minute, I have a genius plan" exclaimed Echo.

"I hope it's better than your bear rescue plan".

"What we need to do is find Shasta a friend to play with- someone his age- and then he'll slowly forget about this foolish idea of racing and realise how hard it really is".

"Where are we gonna find another pup to be his friend?"

"What about your niece? Sara?"

"You mean Sonya" Alpine corrected him.

"Ah right, Sasha".

"Sonya".

"Whatever, you introduce Santa to Shasta and then he plays with her, stops annoying us, and we will be able to focus all our efforts on winning the next race" planned out Echo, smiling deviously.

"Firstly, her names Sonya. Second, that might work, I'll go speak to her" agreed Alpine

* * *

The next day, Alpine was walking through town with Shasta, who was eager to continue practising with Echo.

"So where's Echo? I really think his efforts are working, I hope I become as great as him" he idolised.

Alpine guiltily laughed. "Oh he's sick- terrible cold- and he won't be able to train you. But don't feel down, I found a friend for you to play with while Adam's at school, someone who will boost your confidence a bit".

"Really who?!" Shasta excitedly asked. "Wait is this 'friend' going to just make fun of me cause of my parents?"

"No, she's my niece, Sonya" replied Alpine. She led him to a solitary house surrounded by snowy hills and grouped up logs. "She should be somewhere here, when you find her say I sent you. I need to go help the others take care of Echo, have fun".

Shasta went around the side of the beautiful, small house. He looked around at the piles of logs and eventually found a small Siberian husky puppy sitting by herself, eating from a bowl. She was a slender husky, much like him, and being a female she was a bit smaller than him. Her fur was slightly lighter than his, and her eyes were both different in colour: one was blue and the other was black. Seeing him approach, she growled defensively and moved her bowl back.

"I'm not trying to steal from you" he nervously explained, thinking this was perhaps the wrong dog. "Alpine sent me".

Sonya stopped growling and put on a more friendly face. She moved closer to him and studied him.

"You're S-Shasta, am I saying that right?" she asked. Shasta nodded slowly. "Well hi, I'm Sonya, sorry about the rude greeting but a lot of dogs run past here and try and steal my breakfast. Like Jean George's dumb dog's".

"Tell me about it, those guys are total jerks" agreed Shasta.

"My aunt says you feel lonely, and I'm just the pup to help you with that" she confidentially expressed. "Follow me".

She sprinted off ahead of him and Shasta followed. Sonya led him to a huge mountain with chair lift's going up and down it. They hid behind the ticket booth, as it was closest to the approaching transportation's. It served as one of the many tourist attractions in the town, aside from watching the yearly races of course.

"Wow you sure run fast" panted Shasta, surprised to see someone with as much stamina as him, since he had never been around another puppy before, just grown ones.

"Well duh, I'm a pup, maybe it's just that you're too slow" she teased, following her remark with a smile, to assure him she was saying it as a friendly joke. "Ever been on one of these?"

"I've only seen them from a distance" replied Shasta.

"Trust me, there's no way you can get bored on one of these things!" she anxiously told him, excited to get on one of the lifts.

"Wait shouldn't we go up the mountain to get on?" he wondered, noticing the steady line behind the mountain. "This is the area you get off right?"

"Why run up the mountain when there's a much easier way?" she asked, staring at the chair lifts heading down.

"But don''t you run up mountain's in races?"

"True...but why would we need to worry about that, we're too young for that".

"But-

"Ok, keep an eye out for an empty chair lift" Sonya instructed.

After a while, Shasta spotted one labelled "9".

"I can see one, number 9!" he pointed.

"Get ready, when it comes past we jump, got it?" she explained.

"Wait what?" Shasta was caught off guard by this new instruction...and he didn't have much time to think either.

As the lift approached the ground, Sonya jumped on a nearby rock and leapt onto the lift, landing perfectly onto the comfy red chair.

"Come on, Shasta, jump!" she yelled.

Shasta took a deep breath, stretched out his legs and then ran forward and jumped into the air. His paws grabbed the edge of the chair, but luckily Sonya pulled him up.

"See, wasn't that hard?" she smiled, sitting down.

"Piece of cake" lied the male husky, joining her.

"You wanna know the best thing about being this high up?"

"What?"

"Look outside" Sonya pointed to the beautiful horizon before them.

Shasta's eyes were wide open, with the reflection of the illustrious clouds mixing with the blue colour of them. He could see everything: the mountains, the ground where he and Echo trained yesterday, the bear's cave, the school, the town, the sheriff's office. It was a truly amazing sight.

"I-It's amazing!" he exclaimed.

"I know right, it's even better at night, you can see the Northern lights then" she added. Shasta looked below him where all the humans looked like little ants compared to him. He thought he could make out Jean George racing past with his pack of huskies.

"Not so high and mighty now are you, Jean?" he smirked.

"Wish I was this tall just so I could kick him back to France" said Sonya.

* * *

Meanwhile, in an alleyway behind the sheriff's office, Echo and his team were talking to Deputy Bernie.

"I don't know why a bear just barged into town, seemed awful angry" Bernie went over an incident that just occurred. "Someone must've interrupted it's hibernation".

"What kind of jerk would do a thing like that?" Baron guiltily laughed.

"That ain't suspicious laughter" Akira commented, sarcastically, before turning to a worried Alpine. "What's the matter, Alpine, you should be proud, you found the little weirdo a friend, now he can stop bugging us".

"I know, it's just...I'm starting to regret sending Shasta with Sonya" she admitted.

"Why, I thought you said she was a loner with no life or friends?" remembered Akira.

"I didn't say it like that, Akira" Alpine affirmed. "It's just, Sonya has a tendency of getting into trouble, it's not really her fault, I mean she has no sibling's or parents to talk to when Emily's at school".

"And if it's _two_ troublemakers..." began Baron, a bit tense, now realising Alpine's worries.

"Oh please how much trouble could those two get into?" dismissed Echo, facing away from the others, looking at the sky instead. He then thought about what he just said. He turned around suddenly. "On second thought, Baron go with Akira and Anouk and keep an eye on them".

"Here we go again, I sense misery in the near future" groaned Anouk, as the three left the alley.

"Yeah from us" added Baron.

"Check the chair lifts, she loves hanging around there!" called Alpine.

"The chair lifts? Of course, where else would they be?" Akira asked, using his usual sarcasm.


	7. Bad influence?

As the lift travelled closer to the top of the mountain, Sonya stopped daydreaming and quickly explained to Shasta what they need to do.

"Ready for the next part?" she asked.

"Wait, there's more?" said Shasta, confused since they were already so high up.

"There's gonna be two guards at the top, we need to quickly jump off before they see us-the no animals allowed rule".

Shasta was beginning to slightly regret going along with Sonya, as he never wanted to get himself in trouble with local authorities or anything like that. Also this seemed kinda reckless and dangerous.

On top the mountain, the long line began progressing; several people got on the chairlifts that had already gotten up. Two security guards, one large and one tall one, watched over the cue and were responsible for helping people on and taking any belongings left behind on the lifts off and put in the lost and found (also on the mountain top).

"How many lost bags you found?" asked the large one.

"What kind of question is that?" the other, uninterested one responded.

"I'm just trying to make polite conversation, you know I hate this job!"

Number 9 got to the top. As the guards walked towards it, Sonya leapt out of her seat, followed by Shasta.

"It's her again!" the large guard screamed.

"This time I'm gonna make sure it's the last" vowed the annoyed tall guard.

They gave chase, surrounding them behind the lost and found booth. Sonya ran under their legs, while the other guard chased Shasta. He went under Doctor Mitchel's legs, a 50 year old veterinarian/ doctor/ physiologist, and the tall guard hurled a net at him.

"What are you doing?!" he frantically yelled.

"Sorry, doc, but it's that dog, I'm trying to catch that dog!" grunted the guard, running, leaving Mitchel to untangle the net.

Shasta ran towards his female friend, who purposely stood still by the time Shasta had reached her.

"I got em!" both guards screamed. They both simultaneously jumped down and slid on the ground to get them but the two puppy's moved out the way, making the guards crash their heads into one another.

* * *

Baron, Anouk and Akira walked up the high mountain, groaning and complaining, whilst tiredly continuing their journey.

"You know it's really dumb offering to train a puppy and it's even more dumb sending one trouble maker with another one!" ranted Akira.

"No paw's should be pointed in my direction, we would be resting easy if this fool hadn't lost the pup" Anouk centred the blame around Baron.

"I lost the pup? I lost the...oh well that's news to me!" Baron retorted.

"Who told him to go sleep in a bear's cave?" Akira reminded him.

"Who said we needed to talk alone!?" shouted Baron.

Akira couldn't argue there, so he silently raised his paw whilst grinning.

"This journey is a test of our strengths, the race will be much harder" wheezed Anouk.

Just then a loud voice interrupted their squabbling. "YOU STUPID, FILTHY, MANGY TOILET DRINKING MUTTS!"

"There up there" huffed Baron, with his head down whilst raising his paw to point to the mountain top. His voice was both annoyed, and also expecting since he kinda figured Shasta out by this point.

"Of course they are, where else would they be?" Akira continued his sarcastic remarks.

* * *

On the mountain, the two guards continued chasing the dog's with no success- they just ended up getting themselves even more hurt- until finally they were cornered near the edge of the mountain.

"We got you now!" laughed the large guard.

Shasta was now 100% regretting going with Sonya or even talking to her in the first place, and even she was now a bit worried. Usually these two would be too dumb to catch up but after so many tries, they must've figured out a strategy. He could tell by her sudden scream that she too was at a loss for what to do.

Anouk and the others reached the top and saw this situation.

"Oh boy" he muttered, before charging ahead and biting the large man on the leg.

"AH! More dogs, get rid of them!" screamed the large man, as he tumbled over.

"Shasta, this way!" called Sonya, as she ran towards a chair lift heading down. They both quickly hopped on, surprising Doctor. Mitchel, who was next in line.

"Huh, that was my ride!" he cursed.

Baron and the others were cornered near the edge of the mountain as the two bumbling guards got to their feet.

"Great, now what?" panicked Baron.

Anouk looked down and saw how high they were.

"We're gonna jump" he declared.

"Jump?! Are you crazy, we're like a hundred feet high!" argued Akira.

"It's snow, we'll be fine. Now jump! JUMP!" Anouk repeated himself several times.

Akira closed his eyes and jumped, screaming.

"Jump on the count of three. One, two...just jump" Anouk and a nervous Baron jumped off the edge, screaming.

They crashed into the snow below.

"Huh, that was soft" said Baron, covered in snow.

"Get off me!" Akira kicked him off, him to buried under the snow. "I hate my life".

* * *

The two mischievous pup's returned to Emily's house, laughing.

"That was the most fun I've had in ages" laughed Shasta. He hadn't really laughed much since his parent's death and it felt great to get back to his usual mood.

"For your first time on those things, you did great" Sonya praised him.

"I hope Baron and the others are ok" Shasta suddenly stopped laughing to think about his saviours.

"Don't worry, my aunt says they're the fastest dogs she knows, I'm sure they'll be fine" Sonya assured him.

After a while, Shasta asked, "So you know you said pup's can't race...?"

"Well I mean, it sounds cool but...no one's ever done it before, I'm sure it would be awfully great to win one of those races or at least come second" she admitted, saying the part about the race a bit more quietly.

Shasta began to think about that. He could continue training and live up to the legacy of his dad, but at the same time he didn't want to miss out on all the fun that being a puppy was. Those times won't last forever, and having all those responsibilities is hard. But what about Adam, his class bully's him because of what happened to his dad and his only goal in life is to race and win.

"Anyway, thanks for today, it was really fun" he once again thanked his new friend, before walking away.

"Wait" Sonya called to him, making him turn.

"You do want to do this again right...I mean, hang out again?"

"Yeah sure...if you don't mind".

"Of course I don't, anyway see you later you little skunk" she joked, calling him a skunk because of the colour of his fur.

"Just don't kill my eardrums when you scream" he taunted back, recalling when Sonya screamed when the guards cornered them.

* * *

A couple days later, Shasta found Echo walking through town. He had tried to remain hidden to keep up with the lie that he was ill.

"Echo, I'm so glad your better sir, I'm ready to start training again, if that's ok" he eagerly greeted him.

"Er...well...hi Shasta" Echo was at a loss for words. He asked a question, he could easily say no. But how could he say no to that face. "Um, yes, I'll go get the others...

Over the next few days, Shasta continued playing with Sonya and training with Echo. Both had bad results, and Sonya seemed like a bad influence on Shasta. He didnt see it that way, in his opinion, she was the perfect friend for someone like him. They both had no parents, were the same age, extremely fast, feisty (especially in Sonya's case) and had a very high stamina. Sonya wasn't too girly but wasn't too disobedient. Although, she did a lot of things that her aunt told her not to and hardly took anything seriously.

The dogs were disliking "teaching" Shasta and got more annoyed as he once again got them in trouble with the bear, that chased them across town. Shasta and Sonya accidentally tripped up Jean George, causing him to get in trouble with the bear when he gave chase. Soon, Paul and Mitchel joined in, remembering how they stole his seat and mayhem occurred. Akira watched this montage play out with disgust.

Paul and LT. Toff's took out their guns and pointed it at the bear. Toffs quickly stared at Paul, who hid the weapon behind his back as he wasn't allowed to possess one. Not that it made a difference, Toffs one was out of ammo and the bear growled fiercely at them, making them run (only the two idiots ran into each other at first then in different directions). Toffs spent the remainder of this montage trying to stand up without slipping, resorting to his Shadow trooper outfit in an attempt to scare the bear.

Shasta finally made it on top of a large hill and when the others followed him up to reluctantly congratulate him, Shasta spied some berries on a skinny tree and went for them. The delicate tree toppled over and Echo and his team immediately switched directions, running down the hill, as the tree tumbled after them. Although hill-running had improved his main problem was ice, and his fear of it.

The bear chased the humans and pup's until they all (including the bear) came to a halt as LT. Toffs walked past wearing the Shadow helmet this time. They all gave military salutes to him (even the pup's put their paws up) but once he walked past them and returned their salute the chase continued. Toffs stood in front of the bear, demanding to know why he didn't give a salute. The confused bear stood up tall on two legs and complied, using his paws, watching the lieutenant walk off with a dopey look on his face. Jean George, Paul, Mitchel, and Toffs chased Shasta and Sonya outside the sheriff's office but (like they did on the mountain) they stood still and the four clowns all fell into one another, tumbling onto the ground as the huskies escaped.

The tree crashed into the fleeing dogs, sending them flying. Shasta guiltily stood over the collapsed huskies, apologising. Akira tried angrily protesting but Echo just stopped him and dismissed the apologies nicely. All the while Akira got more agitated and knew something had to be done.


	8. A broken puppy

Finally today was field trip day. Adam's class was lining up patiently outside their school for the mini-bus to arrive, and when it did the teacher finally told them their groups. Adam was to be in a group consisting of two other people, a friendly boy called Ferdinand and Emily (Sonya's owner). Fred decided to continue his teasing before they left.

"So Ferdinand, you don't mind being in a group with two girls?" he grinned.

"Two?" he questioned.

"Oh sorry, that's Adam, he should really cut his hair" Fred continued jeering.

This time, Adam ignored him and forced his ears to pay more attention to what the teacher said about the mountain and what they would be doing there. Finally, they got in (after she explained her behaviour expectations for about the fifth time). As the mini-bus began leaving town, one of Fred's paper balls that him and his friends were throwing around hit him on the head, making the others laugh. The poor boy turned his head to face out the window but then noticed something unusual. It was snowing. Actually, not unusual, but this time it was accompanied by grey clouds in the distant horizon.

* * *

Sheriff Ryan walked through the main street with his trusty dog, Bernie, when he too noticed the cold weather, light snow and smokey grey clouds now engulfing the skies above. He entered the sheriff's office, where Toff's was spraying his uniform after that bear's odour made it stink.

"I hate bear's in general, can we make a bear warrant were it makes it ok to arrest bears?" he cursed, slipping over again, and the spray fell on his head. "Ow".

"Maybe you should take that thing off, it's horrible you got it on that huge digital fashion shop" suggested Ryan.

"You mean Ebay? And no, not now anyway with all this wind" rejected Toffs.

"Hey can you check the weather forecast, you know how I am with these fancy devices" asked the sheriff, muttering "what ever happened to the newspaper?".

"Last time I checked it said clear skies, but I'll double check" said the lieutenant, hoping on the wheeling chair and riding it to the desk. He began checking the computer, as Sheriff Ryan picked up a pile of books. "Lets see...oh my God!" he cried, making the sheriff drop his books on the floor.

"What?!"

"Massive snow storm unexpectedly changes direction from Siberia towards the Bering sea, and heading to Alaska!" he shouted. "'Temperatures expected to fall below -60 degrees, urgent preparation required'!"

"B-But I thought the storm from Siberia was supposed to head to China?"

"Like it said, it was unexpected it made a turn and headed forward again".

"But the trip!" realised the sheriff.

"Call it off quickly before they leave".

"They already have" the sheriff's pale face stilled.

* * *

Shasta hadn't seen Echo and Alpine in a couple of days and, although he hated to admit the fact that his friendship with Sonya was much better than doing hard work, was still as eager as ever to continue trying to be like his father and Echo, something which completely contradicted what Echo expected to happen.

He walked through the main street, where people were frantically heading towards their homes and cars were all parked, as news of the approaching storm spread. Soon, he thought he heard Anouk's voice coming from a nearby alley. He ran over to it but before he could run in to surprise them, he heard them mention his name.

"I don't mean to personally offend you, but I'm about to personally offend you- your plan sucks" admitted Anouk to Echo, not usually one for such harsh language and informality. "Shasta is still coming back, like a little cockroach- you can never fully get rid of it".

"We've been beaten, bruised, attacked by bears, chased of the edge of a mountain...oh and lets not mention we do not have the strength to continue our OWN training" listed an annoyed Baron. Akira wasn't present, he had devised his own plan to dispose of Shasta.

"Look I know it's bad, really really bad but will you just shut up and follow the plan?" barked Echo. "Clearly him and Sally-

"Sonya" Alpine corrected for like the tenth time.

"-Whatever, those two are getting along slowly my plan will grow in to fruition".

"Plan? What plan?" Shasta asked himself.

"Why does the little freak want to race, he's a puppy? Akira was right. If him and that boy do they'll wet themselves" joked Baron, hiding his annoyance. "I'm telling you he's unteachable; useless".

"Face it Echo, he wants to be like you but what he fails to see is that you cannot make him you" said Anouk.

"Can you blame him, he has no parents; no role models except- began Alpine.

"Who, us? Well he can find someone else, I don't remember signing up to be a babysitter" interrupted Baron.

"I know, but trust me, soon enough this plan will work and then we can end the pre-school adventures and continue with OUR goal, the one that WE can achieve" promised Echo.

These words really hurt Shasta, the dog that he had looked up to almost as much as his father was here ranting about how unteachable and useless he is. With nothing to say, Shasta just walked off, once again sad and alone.

* * *

Francois and Philippe walked through the cold streets.

"This sucks" commented Philippe. "Dealing with Paul's dog is better than staying out in this weather".

"I immediately regret this decision, let's go back to Paul's" regretted Francois.

Suddenly, Akira approached them.

"Oh look who it is" Francois rolled his eyes. "How's training that little pupsqueak, I heard he got you in some big trouble on the chair-lifts". Philippe laughed.

"Don't remind me" growled Akira. "I am here to make a proposition, I need you to help me get rid of the little runt. Echo won't tell him to go, he's to soft, that is why I need other help to make him leave us alone. No way am I training the son of my enemy, the one who caused me to live in the streets, to be get a role more higher than mine.

"...Interesting" hummed Francois. "You could try scaring him out of it. Something really scary that will traumatise him, making him hate the sport".

"Isn't his parents dying traumatising enough?"

"Yes but he didn't see it himself" said Philippe. "Once he sees how dangerous it really is, he'll hate it".

"Such as telling him that old tale of Talon the Great and how he ran down the race course all the way to the mountains that he supposedly lives in" continued Francois. "Tell him that he can instantly become a lead dog by doing that legend".

"Ah, that's so evil it just might work" grinned Akira, running off the find Shasta.

"No seriously can we go now?" demanded Philippe after he left.

* * *

Akira found Shasta outside his house, with his head leaning against his paws, holding back tears.

"Hello there Shasta, how are you today?" he greeted, putting on a fake happy voice. He didn't reply nor look up. "Should you not be with Echo at this time to continue your training?"

"You don't have to pretend anymore, I know you think I just get you in trouble and that I'm just...unteachable; useless" he quietly whimpered.

"Oh how dare my comrades try to dishearten you with their back-biting, they are the ones who get themselves in trouble" condemned the Alaskan dog, muttering "by trying to help you".

"What's the point anyway, it's just a dumb sport" muttered the puppy.

But Akira knew Echo would once again take pity on him and agree to help him, he was too soft to throw him under the bus like that.

"Nonsense, I can teach you in less than a day!" protested Akira. "You've heard of the legend of Talon, right?"

"No" replied Shasta, glumly.

"Well, there was a...uh _legend_ ary dog, Talon, who raced throughout the entire course and then straight toward Mt. Amerock, in less than two days, earning him the status of greatest lead dog" explained Akira, leaving out the part where it was considered to be nothing but a myth. "You do that, and you too can become a lead dog, perhaps one of the best, better than Echo...and as good as your father. You want to make your parents proud, right? And poor Adam to?"

Shasta sprung to his feet, excited. "Really?! Where do I begin?!"

"I'll show you the start of the race course" grinned Akira, wickedly.

* * *

Akira led him to the outskirts of town, to where the starting line of the race is normally located. As he did, Sonya spotted him and decided to follow.

"Now, once you exit the forest, continue running until you find Mt. Amerock, piece of cake" explained Akira. "I know you can do it, Shasta, good luck".

When he ran off, Sonya went to her friend.

"Shasta, what do you think your doing? Have you seen the weather?" she exclaimed.

"I don't care, I'm running to this mountain" he declared.

"What, are you mad?!" the female husky cried.

"Look Sonya...I'm tired of me and Adam being picked on because of what happened to our parents, I can't live with that over my head forever" he explained. "I can't expect you to understand, your the complete opposite of me, in a good way".

Sonya thought about that. She actually did understand, more than Shasta knew, she understood everything he said.

"Shasta-

"I'm going and you can't stop me"

"I know...that's why I'm going with you" she decided.

"What? You yourself said it was to dangerous, especially for a-

"- for a girl?" she snarled. "Do you even know the way to Mt. Amerock or through this course for that matter? I do, my mum explained it to me like a million times".

Shasta thought there was no point arguing with her so accepted her decision.

"Ok, just try not to scream" teased Shasta, trying to get back to the flow of their usual antics, rather than arguing.

"Well if I let my only friend die, I'll become as lonely and boring as you" she smiled back.

The two began their trek, running through the furious wind and into the usual race course.


	9. Rising Legend

Shasta and Sonya sprinted vigorously down the long, snow covered path in front of them, getting into somewhat of a game to see who could take the lead.

Shasta was at first allowing her to take the lead, since she was the one navigating them through this difficult track, but after she taunted him about how slow he is, the two got into a friendly competition.

"And he takes the lead, once again!" Shasta remarked, running ahead of Sonya.

The female pup spied a tilted dead log leaning on the top of a snow covered platform. She ran up it, along the trunk, and jumped down, landing ahead of Shasta once again putting her in the lead spot.

"You were saying" she smirked to him, running ahead. "Keep up your cocky attitude, it's helping me beat you, as usual".

"Hey that's cheating!" protested Shasta.

"Zorry but in sport only ze best vin!" she returned, putting on a fake French accent to mock Francois and Philippe, who always repeat that whenever they are accused of cheating.

"How much further till we get to the forest?" asked Shasta.

"We're already here" Sonya answered, skidding to a stop outside a collection of massive, snow covered bushy trees. Several paths were cleared right through the middle of them to allow racers to mush right through them. "This is where Jean usually pulls his tricks, no one notices in these huge woods".

"Sonya...?" a sudden thought hit Shasta, something that he really wanted to know about his friend. "I don't want to start a sensitive topic or anything, but how exactly did your parents die?"

"Avalanche, in the same mountains we're going to now" she told him. "They were looking for something or someone and then...they never came back".

The snow began drizzling down a lot more faster and rapidly that it was before. The grey clouds had fully consumed the sky and were only getting darker. Although it hadn't completely arrived yet, signs of the approaching storm had.

"It's starting to snow quite a bit, maybe we should turn back" admitted Shasta, realising the danger presented with the snow. "We don't know how heavy it's gonna be".

"What? We're huskies, we're practically made for this weather" argued Sonya. "We can't stop now, we've already made it to the forest".

Shasta didn't argue, no matter how much he wanted to. The confidence he had gained from hanging around with Sonya had motivated him to be more care-free, a trait which he put on hold since his parent's death. However, he noticed the determined look in her eyes resembling the same one in his.

"Sonya, can I ask you another question?" asked Shasta. "Are you doing this because you, yourself, want to be a sled dog just as much as me?"

"...Yeah, I've been wanting to for ages" she finally confessed after a heavy sigh. "But, like you, I don't have anyone to help me, I just muck around when I'm bored cause I've got nothing to be excited about".

 _So she really did understand then._

Besides it's a stupid idea anyway, five other dog's aren't gonna fall from the sky".

"Four".

"I'm pretty sure it's five" puzzled Sonya.

"Who else would I make a navigator if not you?" questioned the male husky, smiling. "I mean we're both doing this thing, right? So that means we're both gonna become sled dogs. You're already pretty good at finding your way around".

"Really?!"

"Of course".

"Thanks, Shasta!" she cried. "My aunt was right about you, you really are unpredictable...in a good way".

* * *

Meanwhile on the top of Mt. Amerock, Adam's group were exploring the very top of the desolate mountain, writing down notes and answering the questions on it's structure and other geographical terms. Luckily, Talon had seen the approaching bus and fled before they got off, so his secret home was safe for now.

"Aw man it's beginning to snow!" complained Ferdinand, covering his paper from the snow with Emily's scarf, although she just tugged it back making him drop his sheet.

"BOO!" screamed Fred and his friends from behind the mountain side, making them jump.

"Fred you idiot don't scare us up here, we could accidentally fall!" shouted Emily.

"Yeah yeah" he rolled his eyes dismissively. "I was just wondering if you babies would like to swap positions, let us be up here and you losers go down there to take notes".

"What no way, we were here first" refused Adam, knowing he was up to something.

"Whoa!" glared Fred's friend, looking at the massive amounts of open land through the cave in the mountain top. It revealed the entire eastern side of the mountain, with nothing but miles of snow, dangerous mountains and icy cold open sea. "I ain't going there, Fred, I'm telling you now".

"Hey I don't want to die, I'm not going there" his friend agreed.

Adam then thought of something. If he could do something that Fred was too scared to, everyone would stop bullying him and treat him with respect.

"I'll do it, doesn't seem so hard" he volunteered.

"What?!" Emily and Ferdinand cried.

The others laughed as Adam went forward. Suddenly, as he reached the edge of the mountain side, the heavy winds finally blew in, unleashing the full strength of the storm upon Alaska. The wind's pushed Adam back as he tried returning to the cave, and the edge cracked, making him fall off the mountain.

"Adam!" the others yelled.

"Uh-oh" muttered Fred.

"Quickly we've got to tell the teacher!" said Emily, as they ran back down.

* * *

Sheriff Ryan was talking to Adam's dad when his phone rang. He answered it to a frantic teacher who was explaining the situation to him. The storm had completely blocked the mountain side, so they couldn't go rescue Adam themselves.

"Oh my god, I'll be there right away!" he promised, hanging up.

"Wait, Adam's in danger!?" cried Joe.

"I'm gonna go check it out" the sheriff answered, getting his snow speeder ready.

"I'm going with you, if my son's in trouble I'm going!" Joe declared.

"No, in this storm it's too dangerous for you to go outside" argued the sheriff.

"But-

"I will handle it, trust me".

Akira walked through town, being hit by the wind and snow when Bernie approached him.

"Oh hey Akira, I was wondering if you've seen Shasta anywhere?" he asked.

"Not since Tuesday" lied Akira.

"Well you see Adam's been hurt in this freak snow storm and I'm just afraid he might go after him or something, you know how he's like" chuckled Bernie. "Can you keep him out of trouble until we're back?"

"Snow storm!?"

"Yes, just hit randomly today" repeated the Saint. Bernard. "Luckily there's no races on, could you imagine running down that track in this snow?"

Akira could imagine that because he literally just sent Shasta down there. His eyes were death pale and he immediately ran off to find Echo.

"Where's Akira?" wondered Alpine.

"He'll be back soon, I'm sure" said Echo. "Come to think of it, I haven't seen Shasta all day either".

"Haven't seen Sonya either, they're probably together" sighed Alpine.

"Doubtful, only fools would be out in this weather" argued Baron.

"So why are we out here then- in this weather?" chuckled Anouk.

"We must be fools then" snickered the brown husky. Akira ran towards them. "Come on lets go inside".

"Ah there you are, what kept you?" asked Echo.

"It's Shasta...he's running to Mt. Amerock using via the race course" he panted.

"WHAT?!" they all shrieked.

"Sonya must've gone with him, she knows that course of by heart" realised Alpine.

"Why didn't you do anything?!" demanded Echo.

"It was Francois and Philippe...they told Shasta Adam was hurt in their little trip to the mountain" lied Akira, covering up his actions.

"Are you all deaf...move!" ordered Echo, running past the sheriff's office to see Deputy Bernie was gone. "Huh?"

He ran up to Jean George's dog's who were walking past.

"You fools!" he scolded. "You've just sent two puppies down a death road in a storm...what kind of comedy is that? No seriously, I'd like to know".

"What storm?" questioned Francois, eyeing Akira, hoping he would come to their assist.

"I didn't know there was a storm, did you know that?" Philippe added. Francois shook his head.

"I don't know that course, but you do, so you're gonna lead us down there to get Shasta or I'm telling Deputy Bernie" demanded Echo, growling.

"..."

"You'd better or WE'RE all gonna be in trouble" Akira hinted to them about the three of there's problem.

"You are correct; know that track of by heart we do" agreed Francois. "Follow us".

Lieutenant Toffs got into his ambulance an prepared to follow the sheriff, who had already left with his trusty rescue dog. Suddenly, Joe stopped him.

"What is it?" the annoyed lieutenant asked. "I need to go stop someone from dying".

"That's my son whose hurt! Please, sir, take me with you, if anything happen to him-

"...Ugh fine, get in, I'm heading there anyway" he gave in. When Joe got in, he looked at his Shadow trooper uniform with a strange expression.

"What?"

"What's this?"

"It's a very cool Shadow trooper suit" defended Toffs.

"Isn't it hard to walk in that?"

"Don't we have somewhere to go"

"Oh right my son'a in trouble, lets go" urged Joe, remembering the current task. They then spotted the group of huskies running towards the exit. "Hey isn't that that Russian guy's dogs?"

"I have no time to tell him" declared Toffs.

"Oh wait...he gave me his number!" remembered Joe, taking out the paper and his phone.

Doctor Mitchel and Paul exited the his house.

"Thanks for checking on my dog, doc, now I know why he won't eat" thanked Paul.

"No problem. Hey, isn't that Jean's dog's?" Mitchel spotted Francois and Philippe leading the others out of town.

"It is..and their leaving town...I'm supposed to be looking after them" Paul gulped.

Jean George then approached them.

"Oh hi Jean, I was just talking about you" stammered Paul.

"This clown lost your dogs; they've just run out of town in the direction of the race course" interrupted Mitchel, gaining a dirty look from Paul.

"WHAT?! Some dog-sitter you are!" Jean shouted. "How can I race without my two leads?!"

He quickly dashed to the rest of his sled team and wiped them into getting up.

"Come on you lazy mutts mush!" he called out to them; an extra player had joined this mess.

"Jean's never gonna talk to me if his dogs die, I'd better go help" grumbled Paul, entering his truck.

"In that case, I'd better come along to, I am a doctor" decided Mitchel, getting inside as well.

"Oh yeah after you snitched me up" said Paul sarcastically. As they drove towards the exit, they were stopped by the Russian man who stood in front of the van waving his hands for them to stop. Paul nearly ran him over. "Oi, what's the big idea, I'm trying to drive, you complete nut!"

"My dogs have run out of town, can you take me with you so I can get them" he explained.

"I think we saw them, fine only cause we're heading there too" Paul eventually agreed (his first time being nice..sought of). "No room up here, sit in the back".

As Paul and Mitchel laughed evilly, the Russian sat in the back, cramped cargo area of the van, where lots of tools were scattered around. And as the van drove, the tools scattered everywhere hitting the poor man.

* * *

On the bleak, high mountain in the lowlands, the spy bug's red eyes switched to green, alerting the duo of evil that their time was now.


	10. One day

Toff's ambulance was struggling to drive as more and more heavy snow attacked it from all sides.

"Can't this thing go any faster?" demanded Joe.

"Well we can't abandon it, it is what's going to tend to your son's injuries- not saying there will be any but there is a huuuuge chance there will be" replied Toffs. Adam's dad looked pale and terrified. "This blasted snow doesn't make it any better!"

* * *

The huskies ran towards the end the forest and soon stopped, as the wind pushed them back.

"Ugh, how can we run in this wind?" complained Baron.

"Be as fast as the wind in order to defeat it; move like the wind" advised the wise Anouk.

"That's physically impossible!" retorted Baron.

"That literally makes no sense!" added Francois.

"Come on we're wasting too much time here, lets move!" urged Akira.

"Oh now he starts to be guilty" muttered Philippe. Unfortunately, Echo heard it.

"What do you mean 'starts to be guilty'?" he demanded. The others looked to Akira. "Akira...don't tell me you had anything to do with this?"

"Fine, I admit it, you were starting to drag us all down by helping Shasta...become a lead dog. A position higher than mine, a position that I once had before his father defeated me; my owner abandoned me to the streets for so long and I couldn't stand to see the son of my enemy become something greater" confessed the husky, avoiding eye contact with any of them.

The others were speechless (all except for the French dogs of course). After a while, Echo said, with his head down in disappointment, "Akira you have sent two innocent puppies-

"-What do you mean 'he sent them'? Akira told us the little creature was already upset because he heard you talking about how much you hated him, otherwise he wouldn't have even listened to us?" Francois interrupted.

"We'll talk about this later" Echo quietly said, deep down agreeing with the French dog's.

"Someone here has a big mouth" insulted Anouk, not knowing it was actually him that Shasta first heard.

"You have done committed a greater evil by lying to him all this time, not saying I wouldn't do the same thing to him, but I just think it's wrong to fully blame Akira" added Philippe. "Again, not saying I wouldn't have done the same thing".

* * *

Shasta and Sonya finally arrived at the massive hill overlooking the bus down below. The hill had a cafe on it, where the teachers were chilling while the class conducted their field investigation. Both were out of breath, panting, sweating and too tired to continue.

"We've made it...half-way through" panted Shasta. "And that's it".

"...What do you mean...that's it?" asked Sonya in between her deep breaths.

"I'm not taking you in this weather any further, it's too dangerous" he declared. "I think we should sneak aboard the bus and hitch a ride home".

"So I guess you won't become like you're father...like you wanted to?" she quietly summarised, making sure he understood what he was doing.

"Yeah...but it's not worth getting killed over" Shasta nodded. "Guess I won't be a lead dog just yet".

"I still think you are; in my opinion, you are without doubt the best sled dog I've ever seen" Sonya complimented him, hoping to cheer him up.

"Thanks" smiled Shasta out of embarrassment. Then she did something unexpected, the female pup went closer to Shasta and nuzzled him, hoping to destroy his grief. He slightly turned red and felt his heart beat faster than usual, before she stopped.

They got down the hill and hid behind the mini-bus as the teachers panicked. They had quickly got all the children on to the mini-bus so they could stay warm as they awaited the sheriff's arrival.

"This is taking forever, let's just go rescue Adam ourselves!" the impatient teacher groaned. "He could be seriously injured!"

"Wait Adam's in trouble!?" cried Shasta, his ears perking as the teachers talked.

"That avalanche covered the entire mountain side, we won't be able to get through" the headteacher reminded him.

"I'm going after him!" decided Shasta, turning to run toward the mountain before being stopped by Sonya.

"Wait Shasta, stop and think for a minute" she quickly calmed him, knowing his quickness in making decisions.

"I have to help him!"

"I know, but we can't go that way the avalanche is blocking it, we have to go the long way" she explained to him.

"'we'? Sonya, look I'm telling you this is too dangerous, I think you should sneak on board the bus and return with the others" argued the male husky.

"No way" she refused. "I'm not leaving you in this weather, like you said you could die out here, you don't even know the route".

"Are you sure?" Shasta asked again.

"I'm with you, 100%" she affirmed.

Shasta knew it was pointless arguing with her so agreed. But a faint smile came across his face knowing that, even in such a difficult situation, he had a loyal friend to support him. "After you, then".

* * *

Sheriff Ryan arrived soon afterwards on his snow speeder with Bernie by his side.

"Sheriff, an avalanche just happened and now the entire mountain side is pilled with snow!"

"We're gonna have to go the long way" cursed Ryan, turning to see Toffs arrival.

"Where's my son?" demanded Joe.

"Wait we're did you- began Ryan, surprised to see Adam's dad here.

"He's trapped on the other side of the mountain" said the headteacher. "By the way this wasn't my fault...you can't sue me, just cause I was inside drinking coffee while everything else happened".

"Sheriff, I think there's been an avalanche" realised Toffs.

"Really?" the sheriff retorted sarcastically. "Return to your vehicle, we're gonna have to change direction". He turned to the head teacher. "I suggest you take the kid's back to town, soon it's gonna reach -60 degrees".


	11. Dying is the day worth living for

Through the blinding, heavy storm, two terrifying figures emerged.

"So you were right, there is a storm and a bad one at that" the hooded skeleton glared with displeasure.

"Now we just need to find the right area" said Dark Blade.

"What!? You mean you still don't know where we're going?" questioned Death, frustrated. "Why do I keep getting involved with you?!"

"Shut up and let me think!" hissed Blade. "It's in a cave system surrounded by mountains I remember that, we just need to search, it shouldn't be that hard".

"And if we bump into anyone?" asked Death, clutching his blaster. "Shoot first?"

"You idiot, we cannot leave any evidence behind, no one must learn of our existence!" refused Blade.

"And if they see us?"

"Hm...ok then we kill them".

* * *

Jean George lashed out to his dogs with his whip, encouraging them to run faster. Of course with his two main lead dogs missing he wasn't at his usual fast pace. Luckily his dogs were picking up the scent of their leaders and were leading their master in the right direction, through the forest.

"Faster, go, move you mangy mutts!" shouted Jean, embracing the moment of danger by whipping his dogs once more. "It's too late to turn back now! Hahahahahahahaahahahaha!"

Paul's truck was having difficulties in driving through the race, a course which was never suited for heavy vehicles to travel on. The poor Russian man was tumbling all over the place as paint splashed on him and heavy tools whacked him.

"Move it, move it, your driving too slow!" complained Dr. Mitchel. "How can we go anywhere when you're driving like my grandma!?"

"You wanna drive!?" yelled Paul.

"No" answered the doctor.

"No? Then shut up!" Paul snapped.

"Fine; you're good with the wheel, you drive" Mitchel backed down.

"Could you drive more carefully?" pleaded the Russian man, as a paint can hit him.

"Did you hear something?" Paul pretended not to hear, inserting a rock'n'roll tape into the van's radio.

Paul began driving even more recklessly now, waving his hands into the air, his eyes half closed and half-wide, jamming to his song. The Russian man fell all around the back area of the truck, separated from the view of the front by a metal wall. He screamed as a tool box flew towards his face.

"The road! Watch the bloody road!" panicked Mitchel.

"Oh yeah this is my jam!" Paul continued not paying attention.

"Maybe I _should_ drive" sighed the doctor.

* * *

The huskies ran out of the forest and were now in full view of the mountains that confronted them.

"Which way now?" asked Echo as the wind smashed against his face.

"We need to turn left and get out of this race course, then forward towards those mountains" explained Francois.

"Alpine I suggest you go back to town in case they have already" suggested Echo.

"No way, Sonya is my responsibility, I can't let anything happen to her, I'm her only family" she refused.

"The wind is getting worse!" moaned Baron.

"And it ain't getting any clearer" added Philippe.

"Perhaps we should all turn back before conditions deteriorate further" advised Anouk.

Akira barged ahead of them and eyed the mountains as if they were challenging him.

"It's too late to turn back now" he declared, unknowing that he paraphrasing Jean George. "Racing is the day we all live for! Lets do what we're good at and run!"

"Oh looks like Mr. Guilty finally has a heart" Baron rolled his eyes.

"He's right" agreed Echo, his first words to Akira since is revelation earlier.

"Ugh, it will all end in tears mark my words" grunted Philippe, before the seven continued their own trek.

* * *

Sonya and Shasta ran as fast as they could through a massive snowy canyon comprised of dozens of mountains and hills. The ground was more rougher and the snow had a greater impact considering how low this area was compared to the race course.

Shasta was a bit surprised that he had overtaken an excellent runner like Sonya, who's own vision began deteriorating in these freezing cold conditions.

"Having trouble?" he taunted at her, before turning again and realising from the expression on her face that she was actually feeling the impact of this storm. "Sonya are you ok?"

"I-I'm fine" she shivered. "It's just blurry eyesight, it'll pass".

"Are you sure?"

"Yes" she affirmed. "Now shouldn't we get a move on".

Shasta agreed, continuing running, despite feeling a lot of fear for what could happen to both Adam and Sonya out here. As they continued running, Dark Blade and Death pushed their way through the wind and hail, walking menacingly along the hills in this lowland area as well.

Suddenly, Sonya stubbed her front paw against a hard stone buried in the snow and let out an agonising cry.

"Sonya!" Shasta turned around to help his friend. He gently lifted her injured paw and examined it. It looked bruised. "Are you ok? How bad is it?"

"Shasta, I think you're gonna have to go on without me, I'll just drag you down like this" she insisted. "I'll catch up, I promise, just go on ahead. You can see the mountain from here, it's not that far". She used her free paw to point to the gigantic Mt. Amerock which was bigger than the others.

"I can't leave you out here!" refused Shasta.

"Shasta, there's no time to argue, you can't leave Adam out here in this weather either" argued the female puppy. "I'll be right behind you, I know this course well, remember? I'll..just rest in that cave over there".

"...Ok fine, be careful" Shasta finally gave in despite the massive amount of concern he had over leaving her out here in this godforsaken place.

Shasta watched Sonya walk towards the large cave to her right, lifting her injured paw, before running ahead.

Blade and Death turned right and walked along the mountain side to observe to canyon below them.

Shasta kept on running, before halting as he heard a loud bear growl, possibly the one he encountered before with Echo and the others. A great deal of regret and paranoia swept over him.

"No, I shouldn't have left her like this" he regretted, turning back.

Death looked to the large cave below.

"There?" he beckoned to Dark Blade, who he soon saw had teleported down below regardless. Death joined him.

"Possibly" replied the phantom, entering it.

Sonya carried her slightly better paw to the entrance of the cave, before seeing the shadows of two abnormal figures entering and quickly hid behind a rock. She heard the two chilling voices discuss before they left.

"Nothing!"

"Hm, no I remember it having more mountains surrounding it"

Sonya peeped her small head over the rock and looked at these two terrifying creatures.

"What are those?" she whispered to herself. She exited the cave, hiding behind another rock on the outside. "Where is that boy?" she wondered, thinking about Shasta and if these two had gotten hold of him, which was her biggest fear at the moment.

Death suddenly turned his skull and glowing red eyes forward, to see a silhouette of a small husky puppy, walking. Shasta stopped at this area, looking around for Sonya but couldn't find any trace of her. The snow and wind and hail before him blinded his vision and he couldn't see either one of the ghouls but they could see him.

"Sonya!" he called out into the air. Sonya heard him and so did the figures; she was too scared to move, although she tried not to show it.

"Look, that things spotted us!" panicked Death, stepping behind Blade. "He's making noises, he must be alerting others to him".

"Interesting" noted Blade. "Well...now we can kill".

Death took out his blaster and aimed it forward at the husky.

Sonya glared at this weapon with her wide, double-coloured eyes understanding that they intend to shoot at Shasta. She had to do something to save her friend...

"Well shoot!" ordered Blade.

Something was preventing the ghoul from doing so; something was holding him back. He looked at the small creature, his finger tip at the end of the trigger, pretending that he was wiping snow of his eyes to get a better view.

"He's a puppy, Blade"

"I don't care, fire at him! Fire; kill him; please kill him!"

...could she stand a chance against them? She didn't care, she had to save Shasta from that gunshot. But...

"Ready, aim, fir-

"I KNOW HOW TO SHOOT!" yelled Death, lifting his gun up again.

...Run.

"Hey, leave him alone!" Sonya cried, running forward.

Sonya sprinted forward, jumping and gripping hold of Death's blaster as he raised it and then jumped on his robe.

"Help, I'm being attacked by a savage beast!" he shrieked.

Shasta heard the bear growl again and decided to move on a bit.

"You got her, Death. Left, no right, right, this way!" he 'encouraged', although he wasn't helping much.

Sonya jumped on his hooded head as Death tried shaking her off.

"Shoot, you have a gun; kill her!" Blade swung his blades at him to try and get the puppy, but Death dodged all his blows thinking they were gonna hit him instead. "Left, no right, this way, lead her toward me; right; up. Use your gun you fool!"

"YOU'RE DRIVING ME NUTS!" screamed Death, before the small husky ran onto his hooded head. Blade threw a punch at her but missed and hit Death instead, making him fall to the ground. Sonya ran along him, and Blade used his foot to trample all over Death in a bid to get her. His foot eventually hit the skeleton's pelvis, making him let out another scream.

"She's getting away!" shouted Blade, giving chase.

Sonya tried running, but her bruised paw caused her to fall repeatedly. "Oh, Shasta please be ok" she quietly prayed.

Death picked up his gun from the snow, aimed at her and finally pulled the trigger.

BAM!

All the birds flew from their trees.

Blade returned to his comrade.

"I can't tell you how much I appreciate you stamping on me" he sarcastically said.

"Anytime, now lets move in case that other dog did call for help" ordered Blade.

Shasta followed the gunshot back to the area and saw his friend lying in the snow.

"Sonya!" he shouted, running to her. "Thank goodness, come on I'm not leaving you let's go!"

But when he ran, he heard no other legs following him. He turned again and saw her lying there.

"Come on, Sonya, there's no time for games!" he nudged her body. "Sonya?"

He then saw the bloody mark on her and his eyes turned wide.

"Did the bear do this?" he wondered. He lay down beside his friend; his only true, loyal companion who stuck with him and silently cried. "I should've never taken you, Sonya, I'm sorry".

He felt the storm becoming worse and realised that if he stayed and mourned his friend Adam would soon share her fate. He decided to put some snow over the body and leave it over by the cave, so no one would do anything to it, out of respect for his best friend.

His quaking legs turned to continue running.


	12. Last run

He was by himself now. No one; not Echo, not Sonya and not even Adam was with him. But he couldn't let his friends death, as hard and dreadful as it was, prevent him from focusing on what was more important. He ran vigorously towards the path Sonya had pointed out to him, until eventually he reached a massive hill that overlooked a gigantic mountain. This was it. Adam had to be on the other side.

Adam finally awoke, rubbing the snow from his eyes, his pale face soon saw the snow battering down on him as well as the dark sky. He slowly stood up, careful not to fall, when his eyes captured a terrifying sight. Ahead, on the edge of the mountain top was massive amounts of snow piling up, looking as if any subtle sound could trigger an avalanche and if it did fall from that high, it would surely be enough to kill him. The -60 degree temperature was starting to get to him and soon he collapsed from the cold.

Shasta looked at the massive hill, one of the few things Echo actually taught him that wasn't a lie.

"Large hill, no problem" he muttered, trying to boost his confidence since Sonya wasn't around to do it for him. However, he soon spotted a problem, ice and lots of it, in front of him. "Problem".

He decided go the other, more harsher way up the hill, where more rougher snow and rocks were piled up. He ran up from that path, only to fall back down. Again, he tried only to fall and fall and...

"Ow!" Shasta cried out in pain as his paw smashed against the rocks. He looked at his bruise and knew that he had no choice but to cross the ice pond. But he didn't want to. "No there was to be another way!"

He continued trying and falling, until he couldn't take the cold any longer, his body began freezing.

Dark Blade teleported to the high mountain beside the hill and glared down at him.

"Strange, I thought everyone would stay inside in this weather, not this one" he noticed, intrigued.

"What are you on about? Are we here or not?" groaned Death.

"Wait, I want to see what that puppy is doing" he put his hand out to him. "I'm starting to think that maybe we were wrong about the intellect of these animals".

"Well he's clearly a fool, he's running up that hill non-stop only to fall, and get injured. Why?"

"There must be something he wants...something that he cannot find anywhere else. Or someone".

Shasta laid in the snow, feeling like giving up. His eyes filled with tears over the thought of losing Adam and were already full anyway, blaming himself for Sonya's death. That's when it dawned on him. A voice was heard ringing in his ears...

"He's afraid of the ice" realised Blade.

...Not from anyone nearby, not from a bear or any animal; not from the phantoms above. It sounded all too familiar, hauntingly familiar. His fathers voice ringed in his ears, and then he heard it more vividly "Run, son, run".

Shasta forced his eyes to open, with a fierce look in them. He utilised all of what Echo had taught him about running, coupled with everything Sonya taught him and ran forward, his paws gripping the ice and running past it.

The husky ignored the winds attempts to throw him back down and the hail. Carrying his wounded paw, Shasta continued on his task, much to the surprise and interest of Dark Blade.

Blade turned around and stepped on something heavy and furry.

"What did I tell you about crowding me?" he scolded.

"Um.." responded Death, backing away.

Blade turned to see the massive bear behind them, standing up and roaring at them with a tremendous screech.

"AHH!" screamed the duo, running.

These three combined sounds triggered the avalanche and it began pummelling down to the surface.

"You said to shoot, so you shoot!" Death noticed his contradictions.

"I'll run; you use shotgun" yelled Blade.

Shasta eyed the avalanche an quickly sprinted downhill- which is much more easier than running up- and sniffed for any sign of Adam. He soon heard his groans and found his body buried in snow. He quickly barked to wake him up, and then began licking his face.

Finally, he woke up.

"S-Shasta" he groaned. "Shasta! What are you doing here, boy?" he stroked his muzzle, before hearing a loud noise approaching. "Run!"

The avalanche pummelled toward them like a volcanic eruption. Both of them ran up the hill, and when Adam noticed his puppy's wounded paw was making him lag behind he carried him up, but soon his own bad health made him let go and as Adam fell down the hill (to the other side), Shasta fell in the other direction, consumed by the snow.

* * *

LT. Toffs ambulance and Sheriff Ryan finally arrived at the scene where they witnessed the avalanche finishing. Joe rushed out and helped his son up, whose face looked like Jack Frost. The other huskies soon arrived, and looked around at the result of the avalanche.

Toffs quickly readied his ambulance in case he had any injuries.

"It's ok now Adam, I'm here" he soothed him.

"Dad, Shasta was here too, he saved me, he fell into the avalanche I saw him!" Adam quickly said, his teeth chattering and his tears frozen.

"Are you sure, Adam?" asked Joe, not believing it.

"Yes!"

"Did you hear that, Shasta fell into that snow?" repeated Anouk.

"No" gasped Echo. "Fan out and search!"

The others immediately ran around the hill, yelling "Shasta" and "Sonya" unaware that she had already met her grim fate elsewhere. Echo began sniffing the ground to pick up Shasta's scent but the snow was messing up his sense of smell. Joe, owning five dogs himself and knowing their reaction to losing a teammate, understood and went to join the search.

Paul, Jean George and Dr. Mitchel soon arrived.

"We can't stay out here for long!" warned sheriff Ryan. Bernie joined in the search for his young friend.

Toffs took out a dog whistle and ran whilst blowing it. "I got this on Ebay as well, it seems to work".

"How would you know, you're not a dog?" questioned Ryan, guarding Adam, as the adults searched.

"Shasta!" yelled Echo and Anouk.

"Shasta! Sonya!" called Alpine and Baron as they searched past the hill, still not getting a response.

Blade and Death teleported back to the mountain and saw all the humans and dogs there, having outrun the bear.

"See, I knew it, dog's are inferior to humans, they cannot talk to them, we were worried over nothing" Blade analysed. "Why are they all yelling 'Shasta'?"

"Who cared?" snapped Death. "Wait, 'Shasta'...why does that sound so familiar?"

* * *

Beyond the mountain, a large Alaskan dog walked along the snow, the storm immediately dispersing upon his entry. This dog walked toward the body of a small, young husky buried in the snow. His muzzle reached down and examined his body. Slowly, he began licking him, trying to get him up.

As Shasta began slowly breathing, Talon gently picked him up with his mouth and began moving toward the humans.

* * *

"Sheriff, we must return to the town!" called Toffs, noticing the increase in snow.

"I'm sorry, son, we tried" Joe sadly told Adam, who sobbed for his puppy.

"Sir, there's nothing here, we have to go or we'll freeze to death out here!" Anouk tried reasoning with his leader.

"No, no, no, not till I say we leave!" he refused. "Not till we find Shasta!"

But...there is nothing here to find!" argued Baron. "I mean, if we die who's gonna sign his death certificate?"

Alpine sharply glared at him.

"Why don't you just shut up" snapped Echo. Baron sighed, realising that was a bad time for one of his jokes. Echo angrily turned to Akira. "Look at what you did? Are you happy now!?"

"What...no, no, he has to still be alive!" argued Akira, feeling even more guilty. He sprinted ahead, joining the search.

"So quick to blame others, aren't you forgetting what you role in this?" Francois reminded him.

"You fools caused this to!" he yelled at them, before realising what they said was the truth and quietly stated "No, I am the fool. I caused this".

Jean ran to his dogs and scolded them. He turned to the crying boy, the grieved Joe and the sheriff, who seemed displeased.

"Now look at what you've done, now I look like the devil!" he lashed out at them. "You'd better find that puppy or else".

"Pupsqueak, where are you!?" called out Francois as he and Philippe joined in.

"You may as well help, doctor, if someones dying you can save them. That is why I bought you with me" Paul urged Mitchel, who joined in regardless.

"...'Shasta'?" puzzled Death. "...Freedom. So his legacy continues, eh?" he muttered under his sinister breath.

But Blade was now focused on something else. His red eye zoomed in on Talon as he carried Shasta behind a mountain and laid him down onto the snow.

"What is it?" asked Death.

"Talon" gasped Blade.

Talon led out a magnificent howl, so powerful that the wind smashed against the hills and the Northern Lights revealed themselves. Paul heard this howl and went behind the mountain, as Talon left. He spied the small puppy.

"I found something!" he cried.

Joe and Toffs turned and ran towards him, followed by Dr. Mitchel, who was waving his hands in the air in order to see where he was going.

"Make way for a medical man!" he ordered.

"Get your hands and your face out of my face" hissed Paul.

The dogs followed too, surrounding Shasta and slowly tried helping him up.

"Give him some room" ordered Bernie. "He's breathing. That's a good sign".

The moment was interrupted as the heavy winds returned, literally freezing the thermometer in Paul's van.

"We need to get out of here!" yelled the sheriff.

Everyone rushed back to their vehicles; Shasta and Adam were taken inside the ambulance, while the huskies ran.

"Come on Blade, we've wasted to much time here" grunted Death.

"That's interesting" Blade commented on this scene he had just viewed. "That's very interesting".


	13. Then there were five

Several hours later, the hospital was packed with people who were checking in for their own situations, the -60 temperatures took a heavy toll on the town. But it was ending now, and hopefully they would not experience another one like it again. Adam's parents were waiting patiently and nervously in the waiting area beside the many others. Many of their friends had turned up to see what was happening, as did the teachers. Adam came out after 15 minutes, fully recovered. His mum hugged him tightly while the others looked on. Dr. Mitchel was still checking on Shasta, considering he was a veterinarian.

"Yes, no one can blame me!" cheered the headteacher. "See that, I did nothing wrong".

Dr. Mitchel finally came out from the other door.

"After intensive treatment, I must tell you..." began the doctor, in a low voice. "That I am AWESOME!"

Shasta ran out from under his legs quickly ran towards Adam and jumped onto his lap. Everyone cheered, spoiling Mitchel's moment.

"I'm awesome, I did this, me!" he continued.

"Show off" snarled Paul, thinking he deserved some praise, considering it was his van that provided them with the means to even get there. No, he was still the town's Jacob Marley and Jean George was his Scrooge.

Sheriff Ryan entered soon after with Bernie and greeted Adam. Bernie went over to Shasta.

"Hey, look at you, you're looking better than ever" he smiled.

"Thanks deputy" he smiled back.

"There's someone here to see you but he wanted me to ask you if you would" said the Saint. Bernard.

"Huh?" puzzled the husky.

He went outside to see Echo, Alpine, Baron and Anouk waiting for him.

"I'm glad to see you're feeling better" he said, in a low and ashamed voice. "Shasta, I told you a great lie and I'm so sorry for that and for everything we said about you. I was just...being selfish, caught up in my own desires...I'm very sorry".

"It wasn't just you, Echo, we all are to blame for this tragedy" interrupted Anouk. "But the efforts of this young pup are remarkable. I'm sure one day you will become a great lead dog, I can sense it-

"-That, and what you did was incredible. You are incredible, and...yeah what Anouk said" added Baron.

"Thank you" thanked the husky, a bit embarrassed. "Alpine, I'm really sorry about Sonya, I tried to stay with her at all times, I just-

"-It's ok Shasta, I know she went for you" Alpine replied, holding back some tears. "You know she told me she always thought you were the best lead dog she's ever seen".

Akira soon arrived, sharing a glance with Echo.

"But it is I who should apologise the most, it was my selfish behaviour and anger that led to this" he stated. "That is if you'll accept it?"

"Of course..sir" Shasta smiled at him.

Akira went forward and gave him somewhat of a hug.

"Shasta, I'm sad to tell you this, but the fact is I cannot teach you to be lead dog, simply put: I don't know how" admitted Echo.

"I know, and that's ok, you guys should continue doing you're thing, it's what you've been preparing for" he accepted.

"Maybe one day we'll see you on the race course beside us".

* * *

Death spied a large cave system, surrounded by fang-like rocks piecing the sky. He waved his hands forward, signalling to his ally. Blade teleported forward and entered the cave.

"This is it" grinned Blade.

"So where is it?" demanded Death, looking around.

A snarl and growl soon echoed throughout the cave.

"What the- gasped Death, as a two legged creature stepped forward, with red and maroon stripes, deadly claws and teeth, a long tail, yellow bloodthirsty eyes and a ferocious look in general.

"Death meet my new affiliate: Razer" introduced the phantom. The raptor stepped forward, eyeing the skeleton. Dark Blade pressed a button on his wrist, making a large net full of raw meat appear before them in a flash of yellow and red. "As I promised, this should last you the month. I thought it best for you to meet Death as I won't always be able to deliver this to you personally".

Razer ignored and began devouring the meat.

"One more thing: the one you said freed you, the one related to Freedom, who you said's family had been killed, what was his name?" asked Death. Razer stopped chewing and placed his angry eyes before them.

"Shasta? That's his name" said Death. "The last time I checked dead people don't run".

"Alive?" growled Razer.

The raptor went wild, smashing through the icicles and ice sculptures, stones and anything in his path.

"Come, Blade, we did not come to see a tantrum" urged Death.

"We'll leave it at that, but the next time we ask for a group of dog's killed see to it that you see it done, personally" agreed Blade, as the two teleported away.

Razer exited the cave and let out a loud, furious raw, that haunted the sky.

* * *

Shasta galloped through the open space of Alaska, once again, after Adam had left for school. Well, actually, Shasta accompanied him along the way to observe the other sled racers practising for the annual dog sled race this year. Unfortunately, Jean George happened to be the first one to run past. The roads was covered in a thick blanket of white, cars peeked out under their new white caps, footsteps and paw prints crisscrossed each other around the labyrinth of paths. The paw prints got smaller the more the town went on. That was because near the outskirts of town, an amazing, young husky was running along the winter wonderland, freely. It was December, a year had passed since the miserable, yet somewhat happy year. It was miserable because of the death of his parents, the snow storm, Adam's injury, the loss of a special someone to Shasta but at the same time he felt relieved that he had done all of these things such as running to the mountains in this storm and getting over his fear of ice.

He ran past Emily's house when he stopped. Slowly walking towards a small stone buried into the snow, Shasta felt sorrow in his eyes. It read: "Sonya, the best puppy I've ever known". Obviously engraved by a child. Emily and Sonya were always close. But Shasta agreed with this text, Sonya was definitely the best puppy he'd ever known as well. Shasta couldn't really explain it but he had some sort of strange feeling for her, most likely because he saw a bit of himself in her. He used his muzzle to move the flower Emily laid on the grave closer.

"You we're right, Sonya, the Northern Lights really do look amazing at night" he quietly expressed. "I only wish you could see them with me".

As he ran on, he soon heard soft barking. _Puppy barking? Out here?_

Usually, he was the only puppy who hanged around these parts of town. He had figured out that an plane would airdrop supplies from Washington D.C, and they would usually contain ice-cream. Shasta had changed a lot since the events of last year. He wasn't a depressed little "skunk", as Sonya called him, anymore, he was more active, friendly, level-headed and careful, his cockiness had completely vanished as did his arrogant personality. However, he was still the same adventurous, curious puppy he was back when he was irritating Growl and the others. Speaking of adult dog's, Echo had finally found a sixth member for their team so would be entering this year's race, unlike him.

Shasta followed the barks to a large snowy hill and then peered down. _No way! Golden Retriever...puppies...in Alaska?"_

"Is there dirt in China, cause if there is I'm gonna keep digging?" one of the puppies asked, emerging from a large hole that he had dug up.

"Er, you look strangely different, dawg?" commented the one with a silver B bling around his neck.

Shasta looked at the others: a large puppy wearing a red football jersey, one with a Buddhist collar around his neck and a pretty golden puppy with a fake rose attached to her fur, near her ear.

He quickly as they noticed him.

"I'm sensing someones presence" said the wise Buddha.

"Where, I don't see anything?" asked Rosebud.

Shasta looked again to see who said that.

"Over there, by that hill!" alerted Budderball. Shasta quickly hid once more. "But I was sure-

Shasta decided that perhaps now it was time to finally introduce himself to them and ask where the heck they came from.

"There it is! It's a huge wolf!" panicked B-Dawg.

"RUN!" they all screamed, scattering.

"Hey, wait; guys, I wasn't trying to scare you!" Shasta called after them, but they were to busy running to hear the voice of the small husky.

Shasta gave chase and it wasn't long before one became six, and soon those six headed straight toward the finish line in the race, defeating the crafty Jean George, and finally becoming the lead dog he had always hoped of becoming.


End file.
